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Rhodesian Front

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The Rhodesian Front (RF) was a political party in Southern Rhodesia, later known simply as 'Rhodesia', now called Zimbabwe, when the country was under white minority rule. Led by Ian Smith, who made a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) from the United Kingdom in 1965, the RF was formed in 1962 by whites opposed to any immediate moves to black majority rule. In successive elections (in which 50 of the 66 parliamentary seats were reserved for whites only) between 1964 and 1979, the RF was returned to office, with Smith as Prime Minister.

Following the elections leading to the country's independence in 1980, as the Republic of Zimbabwe, the RF won all 20 parliamentary seats reserved for whites. In 1981, the party changed its name to the Republican Front. Eleven of its twenty parliamentarians defected over the following four years, but the party again won 15 of the 20 parliamentary seats reserved for whites in 1985. When these were abolished in 1987, many white MPs became independents or joined the ruling ZANU party. In 1986, the RF changed its name to the Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe (CAZ), and opened its membership to Zimbabweans of all races, although it now has little popular support.

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